April 30, 2012 9:05 pm

When Jesus Montero homered in the 11th inning for a 2-1 lead tonight, the Seattle Mariners were three outs from going 12-12 in April and saving what had already been a tough night.

The game and the month slid away when Brandon League gave up one run in the bottom of the 11th, then another in the bottom of the 12th and Tampa Bay rolled home with a 3-2 victory.

Along the way, Felix Hernandez pitched another dominant no-decision – the third time this season he’d allowed one run or less in eight innings and not won. And catcher Miguel Olivo strained his right groin, landing the Mariners hottest hitter on the disabled list.

If you’re wondering, it breaks down this way: The Mariners will go with catchers Montero and John Jaso and almost certainly bring Mike Carp up from Tacoma and activate him.

There are other issues facing Seattle in May:

How long does the team stick with the Chone Figgins as leadoff man experiement? After 22 games started, he’s batting .205 and has scored 10 runs.

What does the team do with shortstop Brandon Ryan, who is batting .136 after going 0-for-3 tonight and striking out each at-bat?

The Mariners had plenty of chances to win this one, none bigger than in the ninth inning, when Kyle Seager and Olivo singled to put runners on first and third base with one out for Michael Saunders.

Pinch-runner Munenori Kawasaki was at third when Saunders dropped what appeared to be a safety squeeze – and odd call from the bench given how well the left-hander had been hitting lately.

Except the call didn’t come from the bench.

“He bunted on his own, and we’ve already talked about it,” manager Eric Wedge said. “If we do that, it’s going to come from me and give Kawasaki a better chance to get home.

“It was a mistake. He’ll learn.”

A chastised Saunders said the problem was more the location of the bunt – too close to the mound – not the idea.

“If I get it two feet to the left, we’re not having this conversation,” Saunders said. “I wasn’t not seeing the ball too well tonight, and I took it upon myself, I did it on my own.

“I guess it was the wrong decision.”

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About

Bob Dutton joins The News Tribune after more than 25 years at the Kansas City Star, including the last 13 covering baseball and the Royals. He was the president of the Baseball Writers' Association of America in 2008 and serves on the committee that nominates players to the Hall of Fame.

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Why is it that two people can comment on the game tonight before LaRue is able to post anything on line? How about a consistent game thread? He had 4 days to prepare to write something due to “server issues” that somehow do not seem to plague the competition….and we get nothing of any worth?

Step aside and let Divish run this blog. It was more informative, entertaining, interactive, relevant….and just fun.

I thought that bunt was good enough for Kawasaki to score on. Turns out he wasn’t expecting it, and he still almost made it home–in fact, he was never tagged by the hands with the ball, but by the catcher’s arm. Reminds me of how few major league games Saunders has actually played. He shouldhave more confidence in himself.

This was a game the M’s needed to win. Noesi will have his work cut out for him. I’m figuring Montero catches tomorrow–since he and Noesi know each other–and Jaso catches Beavan. It’s going to be interesting to see how Joe Maddon goes after his former catcher.

Figgins struck out a couple of times also, didn’t he? He must be starting to wear Wedge down.

bub
i understand your frustration, and no one over the past week has been more frustrated with our server issues than i have been. trying to blog and being unable to is no fun.
that said, ryan has another beat and is kicking butt there. i’m doing the best i can, with video that apparently bores you but is enjoyed by others and posts whenever our server allows.
the decision not to post game-threads was made above my pay grade, but you can always start one on any post.

He’s not reporting any threads because nobody is falling asleep in the clubhouse this year..he doesn’t have a legendary (future) hall of famer to rag on…he could just rag on the offense tho, since it falls asleep alot.
just sayin

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